My boyfriend and I went on a date last night and he let me pick the movie. Since Notes on a Scandal went wide and both Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett had just received Oscar nominations I had to pick it.
It was rather interesting. It's definitely not for everyone. I enjoyed the story. It's odd to not be completely repulsed by Cate's character I mean she was having and affair with a 15 year old boy. The loneliness of Judi's character is extremely heartbreaking. I still don't know how I feel about her character. Their performances were very good and deserving of nominations. If I were voting I'm not positive I would have nominated Judi but, I'm not opposed to her having gotten the nomination. Cate completely deserved her nomination. Academy voters do love a good tantrum by a woman so she has a good shot at the win.
This is one of those dramas that I always have trouble talking about. You really just have to see it.
Saw it for full price and it was worth it however, I think most people would be more satisfied having only paid matinee price for it.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
The Hitcher
January is always such and interesting time for movies. It is a dumping ground for a lot of bad stuff especially horror. Which is pretty much what I thought this was. But, as a big Sophia Bush fan I wanted to see this movie and the previews actually looked quite good. (I have never seen the original.)
I must say the previews did not overdue it. The movie was really good. It was very well put together. Very few of those cheesy horror movie moments where you just want to smack the heroes. And there was only one gory moment which was a nice change from most horror films of late. It did scare me a couple times so that was good too.
The whole cast was great. I was extremely impressed with Sean Bean's ability to play the villian without overplaying it. He never once went into that place where you want to laugh at the bad guy for being hokey. And my number one reason for seeing this movie did not disappoint. Sophia Bush again was great. She was a strong kickass heroine. Best of all was that she wasn't strong and kick ass at first. She wasn't weak and annoying either. She was scared and just wanting to get out of the situation and she had a very defined point of no return when she was ready to do whatever she had to, to save her own life. That is not something you see a lot of lately either.
One of the problems with horror films of late as been the undifined heroine. They like to get away from one or two strong females and instead go with a whole bunch of them. Never really making one of them the strong lead rather just picking them off one by one until there's only one left who seems to have survived by luck rather than fight. I was really glad that was not the case with this movie.
I actually went to a matinee of this but, it would have been worth full price.
I must say the previews did not overdue it. The movie was really good. It was very well put together. Very few of those cheesy horror movie moments where you just want to smack the heroes. And there was only one gory moment which was a nice change from most horror films of late. It did scare me a couple times so that was good too.
The whole cast was great. I was extremely impressed with Sean Bean's ability to play the villian without overplaying it. He never once went into that place where you want to laugh at the bad guy for being hokey. And my number one reason for seeing this movie did not disappoint. Sophia Bush again was great. She was a strong kickass heroine. Best of all was that she wasn't strong and kick ass at first. She wasn't weak and annoying either. She was scared and just wanting to get out of the situation and she had a very defined point of no return when she was ready to do whatever she had to, to save her own life. That is not something you see a lot of lately either.
One of the problems with horror films of late as been the undifined heroine. They like to get away from one or two strong females and instead go with a whole bunch of them. Never really making one of them the strong lead rather just picking them off one by one until there's only one left who seems to have survived by luck rather than fight. I was really glad that was not the case with this movie.
I actually went to a matinee of this but, it would have been worth full price.
Freedom Writers
Yes to some this movie might look like a knock off of Dangerous Minds however, it really isn't. First it is a true story and second this story is actually quite different than the one that inspired Dangerous Minds. The lead characters are very different and came to the teaching profession in quite different ways. So if you do see this movie go in with an open mind.
Freedom Writers is a fantastic movie. It is very moving and inspirational. It also makes you want to scream at how awful our education system can be. Yes there are some bad examples of teachers in this movie. Yet, I know teachers aren't made that way they become that way thanks to a broken system. A lot of people go in with such high hopes of helping kids but, without the proper tools they can't and eventually they become jaded and either leave the profession or stay and just babysit rather than teach. This movie gives you hope that maybe there are more people out there that can find away to reach the kids.
I am always interested in anything Hilary Swank does and she again gives a top notch performance. (And you can not call yourself a true Hilary Swank fan if you don't know what movie she says, "Get out of my facial in.") The actors who make up her class are quite amazing as well.
The only real downside to this movie is that it has three places where it feels like it's the end of the movie. This kills the pacing and makes the movie drag a bit. Other than that it is a great movie and well worth the full price I paid to see it.
Freedom Writers is a fantastic movie. It is very moving and inspirational. It also makes you want to scream at how awful our education system can be. Yes there are some bad examples of teachers in this movie. Yet, I know teachers aren't made that way they become that way thanks to a broken system. A lot of people go in with such high hopes of helping kids but, without the proper tools they can't and eventually they become jaded and either leave the profession or stay and just babysit rather than teach. This movie gives you hope that maybe there are more people out there that can find away to reach the kids.
I am always interested in anything Hilary Swank does and she again gives a top notch performance. (And you can not call yourself a true Hilary Swank fan if you don't know what movie she says, "Get out of my facial in.") The actors who make up her class are quite amazing as well.
The only real downside to this movie is that it has three places where it feels like it's the end of the movie. This kills the pacing and makes the movie drag a bit. Other than that it is a great movie and well worth the full price I paid to see it.
Black Christmas
On New Year's Day my good buddy Liz Taylor's House and I saw Black Christmas. It is a bit of a tradition for us that when we get together during the end of the year holiday season we see a horror film. We're just crazy like that.
I really wasn't expecting much from this movie since it was a remake and Liz Taylor's House said the original wasn't that great. However, we both agreed that this movie was actually quite good. We both jumped a couple times. It was put together well with the right amount of humor mixed in with the scares. Horror movies these days do have a tendancy to leave out the humor, this is always a mistake. That humor relaxes the audience and enhances the scares. And those who don't laugh at horror films are boring.
I was not that familiar with most of the cast but, they were all decent. However, I felt Oliver Hudson totally sucked. Talk about phoning it in. He never should have taken this role. Loved Lacey Chabert as always and as a huge fan of Mean Girls I absolutely loved her plastic moment. She also had probably the best one-liner of the whole movie.
Unfortunately it did have a not so great ending. They drug it out so they could do the whole leaving it open for a sequel thing. Not good at all with this one and unfortunately I just know we will probablly be getting a straight to dvd sequel in the next year. (Does anyone else remember when it was straight to video rather than straight to dvd?)
Paid full price for this movie and it was totally 100% worth the money. If you're lucky and it is still playing at a theater near you, you should check it out. If not be sure to pick it up on dvd.
I really wasn't expecting much from this movie since it was a remake and Liz Taylor's House said the original wasn't that great. However, we both agreed that this movie was actually quite good. We both jumped a couple times. It was put together well with the right amount of humor mixed in with the scares. Horror movies these days do have a tendancy to leave out the humor, this is always a mistake. That humor relaxes the audience and enhances the scares. And those who don't laugh at horror films are boring.
I was not that familiar with most of the cast but, they were all decent. However, I felt Oliver Hudson totally sucked. Talk about phoning it in. He never should have taken this role. Loved Lacey Chabert as always and as a huge fan of Mean Girls I absolutely loved her plastic moment. She also had probably the best one-liner of the whole movie.
Unfortunately it did have a not so great ending. They drug it out so they could do the whole leaving it open for a sequel thing. Not good at all with this one and unfortunately I just know we will probablly be getting a straight to dvd sequel in the next year. (Does anyone else remember when it was straight to video rather than straight to dvd?)
Paid full price for this movie and it was totally 100% worth the money. If you're lucky and it is still playing at a theater near you, you should check it out. If not be sure to pick it up on dvd.
A New Year
It's a new year and I'm starting fresh with a new layout as you can see. I hope you like it.
I slacked off a bit towards the end of the year. As you can tell there were no entries about the new television season. My goal is to be better all around and be more consistant with my posting.
I slacked off a bit towards the end of the year. As you can tell there were no entries about the new television season. My goal is to be better all around and be more consistant with my posting.
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